Chron: ITC Sued by Energy Companies

Three energy companies that operate in the Houston Ship Channel are suing Intercontinental Terminals Co., claiming they sustained economic losses from the temporary shutdown of the Houston Ship Channel caused by last year’s chemical fire in Deer Park.

Rio Energy International, Gunvor USA, and Texas Aromatics, which all transport crude oil and refined products through Houston’s ship channel, allege in separate lawsuits that when ITC’schemical storage tanks caught fire and spilled thousands of barrels of gasoline, oil and other chemical products into Tucker Bayou, subsequent closures of the Houston Ship Channel cost their businesses hundreds of thousands dollars, primarily in lost profits from being unable to ship their products.